X-Factor #33Review

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Turn that frown upside down with Longshot and Darwin.

By Bryan Joel

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Enjoy!

To say it's a busy month for the XF Investigations crew would be an understatement. X-Factor begins its Secret Invasion tie-in this month, and simultaneously its crossover with She-Hulk as well as its first formal issue with its new status quo in Detroit. There's a lot going on here to be sure, but one thing that's gone is the unmistakable black cloud of melancholy that's hung over the title for over a year, and this issue benefits greatly from its absence.

Along with new concepts come new characters to these pages in the form of Longshot and Darwin, as well as She-Hulk and her partner. It's nice to see that, regardless of the upheaval going on in the title, Peter David still manages to entertain with his comical dialogue. The trademark David banter is intact here, whether it's Darwin, Monet, or Val Cooper. There's a scripting oddity towards the end there, though -- the average reader's understanding of most of the second half of this issue hinges on the assumption that he knows one of She-Hulk's supporting cast members is a Skrull. It's a little presumptuous to pop Jazinda into the proceedings without as much as a recap page mention or even her name being dropped anywhere, considering X-Factor ships about 30,000 more copies per month than She-Hulk. I can see that tidbit tripping up more than one reader.

Capping off the new arrivals list, Larry Stroman shows up for art duties. Fans of Peter David's run on the first volume of X-Factor will no doubt find this cause for celebration, and indeed everything in this issue has a traditional '90s superhero feel. At the risk of committing sacrilege, however, I have to note that some of Stroman's more deformed tendencies hamper his art's effectiveness here. Longshot in particular gets a raw deal, spending this issue looking less like a Mojoworld denizen and more like E.T.'s long-lost brother. Darwin's father also suffers a similar fate. To be fair, a lot of female characters get some great treatment, I was just distracted by some of the rougher edges to Stroman's style.

It's obvious that someone at Marvel loves X-Factor, because this month's issue is over the top with jump-on appeal. And that said, if you haven't tried what's arguably the best X-book on the stands, you probably aren't going to get a better opportunity than this.